LONDON, 12th July, 2012 – Crystal Dynamics, a Square Enix studio, today announced award-winning games writer Rhianna Pratchett is the lead writer of Tomb Raider™ - the acclaimed origins story of Lara Croft™, set for release 5th March 2013.

English-born Pratchett has been writing for and about videogames for over 14 years. Initially a games journalist, Pratchett quickly moved her passion and skills for creating immersive stories into the narrative of several highly successful videogames. “Rhianna has been working on the game with the narrative from its early inception,” said head of studio Darrell Gallagher. “She has brought a unique perspective to the project and helped us explore the character origins of Lara Croft. There is no doubt that Rhianna has brought a depth and credibility to Lara, a heroine who will really connect with today’s gamers.”

“ I grew up playing Tomb Raider, uncovering the world’s secrets and unearthing its treasures; I have lived and died as Lara Croft, but nothing comes close to the challenge of re-writing her,” said Rhianna Pratchett, lead writer of Tomb Raider. “Seldom do we get the opportunity to reimagine and reinvent a legend, so getting my narrative hands on Miss Croft was a once-in-a-life-time opportunity. It was going back to the genesis of videogame action heroines and exploring how to make such an iconic character meaningful and relatable for gamers today.”

Over the course of her career she has received numerous awards and nominations for her work, including a BAFTA nomination for Story and Character and a Writers’ Guild of Great Britain award for Best Videogame Script.

Pratchett will be participating on two panels during Comic Con San Diego 2012, both on Saturday 14th July:

12.00PM – 2.00PM: The Tomb Raider development team talk about the reimagining of a gaming icon on a panel hosted by Zachary Levi at The Nerd Machine’s ‘Nerd HQ’ at Block No. 16 Union & Spirits (344 7th Avenue in downtown San Diego).

About Square Enix Ltd.
Square Enix Ltd., a part of the Square Enix Europe business unit, develops, publishes, distributes and licenses SQUARE ENIX®, EIDOS® and TAITO® branded entertainment content in Europe and other PAL territories as part of the Square Enix Group. Square Enix Ltd. also has a global network of leading development studios such as IO Interactive™, Crystal Dynamics® and Eidos Montréal. The Square Enix Group boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY, which has sold over 100 million units worldwide, DRAGON QUEST® which has sold over 59 million units worldwide and TOMB RAIDER® which has sold over 35 million units worldwide; and the legendary SPACE INVADERS®. Square Enix Ltd. is a London-based, wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.

More information on Square Enix Ltd. can be found at http://www.square-enix.com/eu/en/.

About Rhianna Pratchett
Rhianna Pratchett has been a professional writer for 12 years. Having written numerous features and columns on games, movies and books and originally cutting her journalistic teeth on PC Zone magazine and The Guardian newspaper, Rhianna moved into script writing and narrative design in 2002. In 2007 her work on Heavenly Sword was nominated for a BAFTA and a year later she won a Writers' Guild of Great Britain 'Best Videogame Script' award for Overlord.

Alongside writing for videogames, she has also authored the 6-part Mirror's Edge miniseries with DC Comics (see under Comics) and several of her own short stories.

Rhianna has contributed to various books on games narrative including Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing (Edited by: Wendy Despain) and Game Writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames (Edited by: Chris Bateman). See under Books
She also works with the IGDA Writers' Special Interest Group and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain to help improve games narrative and the lot of games writers everywhere.

Rhianna currently lives in London, with a couple of neurotic tabbies and a gay tortoise. True to British form, she drinks a lot of tea.